Beautiful, Handpainted, Artisanal Handbags from Meraki

What if your purchase of a beautiful hand painted, artisanal handbag could empower women in India?
Meraki, Indian handpainted artisanal fashion brand, launched a crowdfunding campaign last month with an exclusive collection of artisanal handpainted leather bags to help fund a school to teach a traditional art form Madhubani, to girls in a village in India.

Meraki’s Ethical Fashion Mission

Meraki has a mission to promote India’s traditional art forms in a sustainable way. Their artists individually handpaint each high-quality leather/wood bag. Each of their bags is thus one-of-a kind, telling a unique story associated with the art and touched with the heart, soul and hands of their talented artists. Meraki’s mission is to bring patronage and economic empowerment to their artists and get them the recognition that they rightfully deserve.

Hand-painted wooden clutches

100% of the profits from this collection will go towards funding a school run by one of the non-profits that Meraki partner with to teach a beautiful traditional art form, Madhubani, to young girls in a village in Bihar, India. The company is offering this product to backers in the first round of fundraising through Next Chapter, a rewards based crowdfunding platform aimed at supporting women-led businesses in Asia.

About the Crowdfunding Campaign

Backers get one-of-a-kind, handpainted and high quality leather handbags that are absolute conversation starters.

100% of the profits from this collection will be going towards funding a school to teach this art form to girls and to help preserve these skills.

The collection will be painted by the teachers and the previous students taught in the school and thus economically empowersthese women.

You can even get your own bag upcycled with the art from one of Meraki’s artists.

If you want to see their work in-person follow their Facebook page to stay updated of their popups around town, including collaborations with restaurants and bars like Shore and Runway. They are also part of the lovely Asia Society store’s beautifully curated collection.

Oh Hong Kong Sling/Crossbody

Our personal favourites from their collection are the ‘Oh Hong Kong’ Sling/Crossbody depicting the Hong Kong skyline in traditional madhubani patterns and their recently launched handpainted wood clutches like ’In the Waters of Purity’ (pictured above). The small stories about each of the motifs on a bag as well as the artist’s story make the whole experience even more special.

Support Their Crowdfunding Campaign & Get Your Own Beautiful Bag!

You could also support their campaign hereand get yourself one of their beautiful handpainted bags and support art preservation, ethical fashion and women empowerment all in one go!